Railroad-crossing gate-operating device



May 3, 1927.

G. MOORE RAILROAD CROSSING GATE OPERATING DEVICE Filed Oct-28, 1926 Patented May 3, 1927.

PATENT OFFICE.

y y GEORGE MOORE. OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

RAILROAD-CROSSING `GATE-OPERA'Il lITG DEVICE.

Application filed October 28, 1926. Serial No. 144,830.

My invention relates to improvements in railroad crossing gate operating devices, and the objectl of the invention is to devise a simple device by which the gate at a crossing may be automatically opened and closed by the train as it approaches the crossing at a distance therefrom, and at the same time provide simple means for sounding an alarm signal before the gates are opened and prior to the train reaching thegates and before the gates are closed, and it consists essentially of the arrangement and construction of--parts as hereinafter described.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my device.

vFig. 2 is a plan view of my device.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View on liiie`3w3 Figure 2.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the gate oper-at ing pulleys and the operating cable connected thereto. 1

Fig. 5 is a side detail elevation of one of the operating mechanisms employed in the operation of my device. i

Fig. 6 is a detail view of one of the aut-oinatic switches for opening and closing the alarm circuit.

In the drawing like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

1 indicates a substructure which may be formed of concrete located at the side of the road bed and extending transversely at the railroad crossing 2. 3 and 4 are the gate standards located at one side of the crossing and 5 and 6 are the gate standards located at the opposite side of the crossing. 7 and 8 are the trackways of a double track extending between the gate standards 3 and 4 and the gate standards 5 and 6. Each of the gate standards are constructed according to common practice being provided with shafts 9 and 10 extending through the side plates 11 and 12 thereof on which are se-` cured gears 13 and 14 intermeshing together'.

15 is a gate arm mounted between each pair of standards and provided with a gear quadrant 16 meshing with the gear' wheel 14. 17 and 18 are pulleys mounted on the shafts 9 at one side of the railroad track. 19 and 2O are pulleys also mounted on `the shafts 9 at the opposite side of the railroad track. 21 and 22 are supporting standards located at one side of the railroad track and at each side of the railroad crossing. 23 and 24 are similar standards located at the other side of the railroad track at each side of the railroad crossing. The standards 21, 22, 23 and 24 are illustrated in detail in Figure 5. The upper end of each standard is provided with a horizontal arm 25 terminating in bearing pieces 26 and 27 in which is journalled a shaft 28. 29' is a vertical shaft journalled at its upper end in the arm 25 and at its lower end in a step bearing 30 carried by the substructure 1. 31 is a bevelled gear secured to the shaft 29 and above the arm 25, and 32 is a-pulley secured to the shaft 29 adjacent the lower end thereof'. 33 is a bevelled pinion secured to the shaft 28 and meshing with the gear 31. 34 is a cani arm secured to the shaft 28 and adapted to coact with the cam shoe 35 carried by the engine 36 as indicated in Figure 1.

37 are cables, such cables being endless and passing around a pulley 32 at each side of the railroad crossing as clearly indicated in Figure 3. One run of each endless cable extcnds directly from one side of the railroad to the other side of the railroad crossing as indicated at 37". The other run passes from the left hand pulley 32 upward over a pulley 17 one one sideof the railroad track and over a pulley 19 on the opposite side, such `cables 37 being wound around the pulleys 17 and 19 and secured thereto as indicated at 37 see Figure 4. The central portion of each cable inclnes downward as indicated' at 38 to pass beneath the pulley 18 on one side of the railroad track and a pulley 20 on the opposite side of the railroad track, being wound therearouiid and secured thereto as indicated at 371. The cables 37 then passing from the pulleys 18 and 20 to the pulley 32 on the right hand side of the railroad crossing as indicated in Figure 3.

It will thus be seen that when a train is y travelling in the direction of arrow see Fig ure 2 that the shoes 35 carried at each side `of the locomotive 36 engage the arms 34 on the left hand side of the railroad crossing thereby rotating the shafts 28, gear pinions 33, gears 31 and shafts 29 so as to turn the corresponding pulleys` 32 thereby revolve the endless cables 37 which being connected titl to the pulleys 17 and 18 as indicated in .Figure 4t rotate such pulleys and rotate the pulleys 19 and 2O in opposite directions so as to raise the gate arms 15, and at the same time the cable Si' rotates the pulleys 32 on the opposite side of the railroad crossing so as to carry the cam arms St corresponding thereto to their downwardly swung position. it will therefore be seen that when the train has passed the crossing it engages such downwardly swinging cam arms to raise them and thereby through shafts corresponding to the shafts 28 and gear connections rotate the corresponding` pulleys 3:2 in the opposite direction so as to revolve the cable 3T also in the opposite direction and thereby turn the pulleys 1T and 1S in the opposite direction to arrow to lower the gate arms The corresponding` operation takes place when the train is travelling in the opposite direction upon the track 8 so as to lower and raise the gate arms from the opposite side of the track as the'train approaches and recedes from the crossing.

ln order to give an alarm at the crossing that the train is approaching and that the gates are to be lowered l provide the. fol.- lowing device.

i9 and et() are standards similar in construction to the standards 23 and 24e previously described. The standards 239 and /lO are each provided with a .horizontal arm @t1 corresponding to the arm 25 and end bear ings and t3 corresponding to the bearings 26 and 2T. il is a shaft mounted 1n the bearings 4t2 and 43 of each standard 39 and 4.0, one shaft ist being provided with a vpulley MAX and the other shaft with a pulley Lili". l5 is a cable wound around the pulley 44.* .and passing downward around the guide pulleys etti and T passing horizontally to corresponding guide pulleys 46X and d carried by the standards d() and passing upward and around the pulley dat. Each shaft ist is provided with a cam arm, one cam arm being indicated by the numeral i8 is in the raised position, the other cam arm being designated by the numeral 119 is in the lowered position. is the knife of a knife switch which is secured to a shaft 11:41-. 51 are the jaws of the, knife switch carried by the standards 41. is an alarm bell. 53 is a circuit wire leading from the knife of the knife switch to the alarm bell and through the battery X, and is a circuit wire leading from the jaws of the knife switch to the other terminal of the bell 5:2.

It will thus be seen that as a train approaches the crossing in the direction of arrow, see Figure 2, that before operating the gate raising mechanism the cam shoe 35 carried by the locomotive engages the arm f8 so as to raise it revolving the shaft let and pulley Il@ thereby carrying the knife 50 of the knife switch into engagement with the jaws 51 to close the circuit through the alarm bell and thereby sound the alarm. After the gate arms have been lowered and as the locomotive. reaches the railroad crossing the cam shoe 35 engages the arm 4S) which has been previously lowered by the operation of raising the arm 48 so as to carry such arm 49 upward and thereby revolve the pulley fill", cable d5 and the pulley del* in the opposite direction to that previously described and thereby carry the knife switch 50 out, of engagement with the jaws 51 so as to open the alarm circuit causing the alarm signal to cease. A similar operation takes place when the train is passing in the opposite direction upon the track 8, such alarm mechanism of course being located on the opposite side of the railroad track and at the opposite side of the railroad crossing to that previously described.

F rom this description it will be seen that I have devised a very simple device whereby a railroad crossing gate may be closed by an approaching train and again opened by the train receding from the crossing after passing thereover, and at the same time providing means for automatically sounding an alarm at a predetermined interval before the closing of the gate and the arrival of the train at the crossing and from maintaining the operation of such alarm until the train has reached the railroad crossing at which point the sounding of the alarm is discontinued automatically.

that I claim as my invention is 1. In a railroad crossing gate, the combination with the gate arm and operating mechanism thereof, of a support located at a distance from the approach side of a railroad crossing gate, a support located at a distance from the receding side of the rail road crossing' gat-e, a cam arm pivotally mounted on the support, the arm on the approach side being in the depressed position and the arm on the receding side in the raised position, means carried by the train for engaging the arm when in the depressed position and connecting means between the arms whereby one arm is depressed by the raising of the other arm and for simultaneously operating the crossing gate mechanism to lower the gate arm as the train approaches the crossing and for raising the gate arm when the train recedes from the crossing, means for automatically sounding an alarm prior by the operation of the cam arm on the approach side of the railroad crossing gate and for cutting out such alarm as the train reaches the railroad crossing.

2. The vcombination with a railroad crossing gate, means for automatically operating the gates to close as the train approaches the gate and to open as the train recedes from the gate, an alarm mechanism comprising a pair Of standard supports spaced apart at each side of' the gate Opening` means, a shaft journailed in each support, a cam arm carried by each shaft, one arm being in the lowered position and the other arm in the raised position, a driving connection between the shafts, means carrled by the approaching train for engaging the cam arm when in the lowered position, an electrical contact switch operated to close 10 by the raising of the cam arm and to open by the lowering of the cam arm.

GEORGE MOORE. 

